Dementia research funding 'needs an urgent boost'

Additional funding to help find the cause and a possible cure for dementia is absolutely vital, it is claimed.

Without significant investment serious problems with dementia care will develop, which the country will struggle with over the next 40 to 50 years, according to Ian Weatherhead, the lead nurse for Admiral Nursing DIRECT at Dementia UK.

A study recently published in the Neurology journal has shed some further light on the development of dementia.

The research showed that stimulating activities such as crosswords and puzzles can delay onset of the disease, but once cognitive function begins to decline they can make it accelerate.

Mr Weatherhead said that studies such as this offer valuable insights, but funding for work like this remains far too low.

"Research funding into dementia is significantly lower than other physical illnesses such as cancer and requires urgent review and significant increases," he said.

"The estimated financial cost of dementia on our economic society is in excess of £20 billion a year."

Read more about Barchester's dementia care homes.